Crimson Lines

A good day

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:52:59 GMT

Woke up at 8 and decided to do some cleaning before hitting the gym. I used my steamer on the master bath, which worked very well. It did great with the walls, but I still had to use a scrubber on the floor. Still, I'm pleased with it. Then I did the dishes and put them away, which cleaned up the kitchen nicely.

Before I went to the gym, I did an experiment. My legs look great, but it's hard to see the definition through the, well, hair. So I shaved one thigh to see how it looked. It looks great, so I'm going to shave the rest of it and the other leg. I was going to shave one whole leg to try things out, but the battery in my electric died.

The time at the gym flew by. I did 25 minutes on the treadmill, then an hour on triceps and shoulders. We did a couple new exercises today that I liked a lot. My trainer showed off my legs to one of her newer clients. She also took the time to point out that most of the other guys in the gym had their legs shaved, so I shouldn't feel weird about shaving them. We'll see if I think the look is worth the effort.

I picked up groceries for the week on my way home and made sure I have stuff to take to work to eat. No more eating out for lunch unless it's a special occasion.

I have the laundry going now and am just relaxing. I managed to do cardio three times since Tuesday. I'm hoping to do four times this week, not counting today. Having the iPhone for entertainment when on the treadmill really helps.

I've been playing with the Xbox 360 a bit the last day. I'm getting interested in Oblivion again and have been toying with Forza Motorsports 2. I really like racing games, but I'm just not feeling FM2.

My interest in racing games is more as a crew chief. I like modifying the cars and giving instructions to the driver. The GT series for the PS2 had a great mode called B-Spec that I really enjoyed. It makes you the crew chief/team leader and lets you give orders to an ok, but kind of stupid, driver, as well as setup the car, order tire changes, pit stops, etc.

FM2 doesn't have that and I don't have the time or the patience to learn to drive well enough on a controller to care to play. FM2 does have FM TV, though, which lets you watch multiplayer races other people are running. It's entertaining for a while. I wish they'd add a B-Spec-style mode to FM2. I am good at coming up with the right car settings for different tracks and doing pitstop and tire selections and enjoy it.

Neat

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:52:07 GMT

Finally found lj's mobile-friendly page. Very handy.

Quick thoughts on the iPhone:

Pros:
amazing screen
most readable mobile browser I've seen
virtual keyboard is great[1]
ability to add to main menu rocks
Google map support is great

Meh:
wgasa about youtube?

Cons:
safari (web browser) crashes at times
edge network can be slow
no word processor and spreadsheet

Ta for now

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:19:00 GMT

It's a good day to stay in bed and relax. It's kind of fun being able to post from my phone too :)

Are they overly concerned? Or overreacting?

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:38:04 GMT

NEA Survey Shows Steve Jobs Is Right: Nobody Does Read

I have a fairly odd group of friends: we pretty much all read. In fact, most of my friends wish they had more time to read. But is this a real concern? For the age groups and drops in reading they list, what are the demographics? Is the drop real, or are the respondents being more honest? Of the people who "stopped" reading books, what type of books were they reading in the first place?

Personally, I really enjoy reading. I usually have a book or two going at any given time. I generally don't read any books for work; it's faster, easier, and more accurate to look online. You can't grep dead trees and books don't get updated in near real-time. So all of my book-based, as opposed to online, reading is for pleasure.

I'm curious about a related question. I've known a lot of people who never read books (known; didn't say they were friends). However, now that they have easy access to the internet, they're reading all the time, finding out how to do things, discussing with others their hobbies, reading about things they'd never heard of, etc. How many people are reading now, via the internet, that didn't read books before?

Several of you are authors. What do you think? Is this a real concern? Or just a migration of reading habits that their study isn't tracking? Do you think it will damage society?

Odd weather day

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:11:04 GMT

Got to the gym at 7am. Was a little cloudy, but the rain had passed. Did the treadmill (go me) and worked out for an hour. By the time I got to work, the sun had broken through and it was nice out.

Over lunch, I drove up to the causeway to breathe in the sea air for a bit before grabbing a sandwich and heading back to the office. I got to the intersection where the causeway starts around 12:10pm to see this.

When I got home, the fog was already rolling over where I live. Pretty odd! We have a heavy fog warning for tomorrow until 9pm. Will make going to work interesting, though I'm pretty sure once I get more than a couple of blocks from the Gulf that it will have dissipated.

Once it warms up a bit, I may offer to bring my portable grill into work for a mini-BBQ. I even have the folding stand for it. It would be fun to do, though the idea may get shot down out of concerns people driving by would think it's some type of PR event.

It was nice to listen to music on my iPhone while on the treadmill. It certainly beat the music they were playing, though it was amusing to hear Berlin's "The Metro" while lifting weights.

An interesting sight

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:53:59 GMT

It's rare to see something that seems to be a vision of the past.

As my aunt and I entered Fresh Market to pick up lunch, a woman was walking in from the 1960s. She appeared to be in her 60s and was wearing a white flowing outfit of, perhaps, linen. Cape, hood, dress/skirt, blouse. Very "visiting southern Europe on vacation from England."

She had the demeanor that made the outfit just perfect. She wasn't haughty or nasty, nor was she trying to exploit the outfit. It was just her; the clothes and the person just fit.

When my aunt and I came out of the store, we remarked on her clothes and how she did pull them off. As we drove out, we pulled up to a 1962 (guessing the year) Rolls Royce (not guessing) right-hand-drive. With a UK-style plate (it was customized to be a woman's name; I don't know if that is allowed there) and the Florida plate, customized to the same name (which is allowed in Florida).

While I didn't have to look to know it was her, I did, and it was.

It was nice, in a way I can't really explain.

If you've seen Monarch of the Glen, she echoed Susan Hampshire's character Molly.

For some reason, I'm sure that if I'd asked her about the car, she'd have said, "Oh, this banger?" when referring to it.

I would have taken a few photos, but, well, it wouldn't have been cricket.

Update

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:52:47 GMT

I'm back at home. Had a great time with my aunt. Thankfully the ride back wasn't as scary as the ride down. Crossing the Sunshine Skyway during high winds in a Jeep is a little white-knuckle-y. The wind shifted today, so the skyway was its normal pretty self.

I kept my T-Mobile phone for now, though I'll drop down the minute plan. The favorite 5 is a real boon for me and I have several friends who also have T-Mobile that wouldn't like being charged minutes when talking to me. Once I get an idea of how many minutes I actually use in a month, I'll decide if it's practical to dump the other phone. If you really need to get hold of me, though, it would be best to call or text my new number (I got a boatload of texts). I'll post the new number in a friends-only post later.

What do I think of the iPhone?

Before I get into my opinions, if you have one or played with one that doesn't have the 1.1.3 OS update on it, it may be worth another look. If you hated it because of the virtual keyboard or the inability to send photo SMSs, well, you'll still hate it.

I like it. I like it a lot. However, you may or may not like it. I'll post more later :)

iPhone!

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:27:55 GMT

I gave in and got one! I'm posting from it now. :) Need to hang out with my aunt now. Will update more later. Edge is slow but usable.

Edit: I left out the iPhone title when I posted originally.

That was fun

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:09:00 GMT

Went out with coworkers after work to an Irish pub-style restaurant. It was fun. It also made me want an iPhone more, as a coworker and I were arguing about the alcohol content of Heineken. He claimed it was 12%, I said around 5%. My boss pulled out her iPhone and looked it up. It was ~5%. Being able to surf almost anywhere would be handy.

Random trivia: in the US, alcohol content is expressed in percentage alcohol by volume (ABV), except for 3.2 beer, which is 3.2 % alcohol by weight (ABW). 3.2 beer would be 4% ABV.[1][2]

[1] Some US states only allow normal stores (non-liquor stores) to sell 3.2 beer. One requires all on-tap beer to be 3.2 beer. Light beers range from 3% - 4.2% ABV, so 3.2 beer is effectively light beer.

[2] Before doing contract work in the US, the only reason I had heard of 3.2 beer was because of Ohio. Ohio's drinking age was 19 until 1987 and some Ohio universities allowed students to have 3.2 beer in their dorms. I started college in 1988, so this was mentioned fairly often at my college.[3]

[3] Contrary to common belief, the US does not have a national drinking age. Each state has the right to set its own. However, if that age isn't 21, the federal government withholds federal highway construction money. Check out this New York Times story from March 10, 1987 for a little commentary. A similar tactic was used in 1974 to force the then national 55mph speed limit.

Car memories

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:26:01 GMT

While sitting wait for a light to change today, I started thinking about how some cars mean something special to us and some, well, are just cars.

My first car was a 65 Mustang that came in parts. It took me all summer to get it running, I drove it my senior year in HS, then took it apart as it needed an engine rebuild. Between school and having to be picked up and taken home to work on it, it didn't run again until my sophomore year in college.

It was special to me, as it was my first car and I did (almost) all the work on it. It was pretty comfortable and my friends, male and female, enjoyed it too. I wouldn't buy one again though. I test drove a restored one in the late 1990s and was reminded that, while I like my memories of it, it's still 40+ year old technology and build quality. I sold mine to a professional car restorer who turned it into a nice, but not restored, daily driver for his wife. Last I heard, it was purple.

My next car was my dad's old 1987 Cavalier 4-door with zero options. 4-speed manual, no AC, etc. I was thrilled to have it, as I was working from 4pm-12:30am and 1965 headlights suck. I could coax 40mpg out of it, which was kind of fun to do.

But it was just a car, and one that had been well-maintained but well-used. When I traded it in, it had 232,000 miles on it, was running rough, and the seat mounts had rotted out, so the driver's seat tended to recline even when in the "upright, locked position". I'd replaced all the inexpensive parts trying to fix the rough running and decided it wasn't worth spending $1000+ of exploratory work on a $800 car with 232K on it.

I was finally at the point where I could afford to buy a nice used car. While I liked the 1993 MR2 Turbo I test drove, I went with a 1993 Miata and am really glad I did. The Miata was more fun to drive and meant I wasn't at risk of losing my license for speeding. (It's an old adage, but a true one: it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. A curvy, hilly road at 50mph in the Miata was a blast. And legal.)

The Miata was something special for me. It was the first major purchase I'd made on my own, with my own credit, etc. I customized it just enough to make it handle better without making it difficult to use. It was my first convertible and the one that spawned my love of them. I also got to do the insane road trip in it (14,000 miles), as well as lots of "are you nuts?" trips like going to Toronto from southern Indiana on a Friday and coming back Sunday.

But the Miata hated NE Illinois: flat, concrete roads meant no fun places to drive and lots of slamming over bad pavement. After a lot of peer pressure, I decided to get a 4-door to suit my more permanent job situation. I bought a 2000 SVT Contour and sold the Miata to my mom. Mom still has it and she and dad drive it through the back roads around their house whenever they get the chance.

The SVT was a nice car. Very comfortable, nice lines, and very fast for what it was. Many BMW owners were surprised when a black 4-door that only said "SVT" and "Ford" on the back blew their doors off.

But it was just a car. I'd made a critical mistake with it: I'd bought the 4-door version of the Miata. It crashed over the bad road surfaces, it was designed to handle but I lived in flatland. It also got amazingly bad gas mileage in town (15-17mpg) and really wanted to go fast. Thankfully it had cruise control, so my license was safe.

Moving to Florida made things worse for the SVT. The curbs are very steep to deal with the rainstorms. The roads vary from butter smooth to hugely bumpy. Having to run the AC all the time meant I'd get 12-14mpg in town. And it was a manual, which isn't good for sitting in traffic.

So I got the Jeep. While I've not had it long, it's already a special vehicle. I already have issues thinking about driving other vehicles, mostly because of the 360 degree view I have from the driver's seat. Not to mention it's fun in a different way: every trip feels like a miniature adventure. Also, I can't get the smile off my face when the top is down, but don't hate having the top up. Having the top up on the Miata was like being punished by being locked in a footlocker.

Steak

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:53:17 GMT

It was good. I have to stick with the grill, though. Doing it in a cast iron skillet worked, but was moderately annoying. I did get a great sear/crust and it was lovely. I made the mistake of having them bacon-wrapped. I'd not do that again. I know how to cook, both on the grill and on the skillet, filets and keep them moist. The bacon wasn't necessary and doesn't crust like the meat does. It added a slight flavor of burn to an otherwise tasty steak; I ended up peeling it off.

I kept them barely medium rare, so as to not induce the wrath of the Labyrinthman ;)

Edit: Oh, if you are making steak, or almost any other meat product, be sure it's at room temperature before cooking unless the recipe says otherwise. Not doing so is a great way to burn the outsides while leaving the insides raw.

Misc. Stuff

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:49:57 GMT

The Gym

Had a good workout today. My trainer purposefully made me do an exercise that let me see my arms all the way around in the mirror as I exercised. Wow, they are getting big and defined. Trainer even said, "You can't see this level of definition in a guy with no tan unless they're getting really cut!" At times I can even see the muscle striations in my upper arms through the skin. My biceps are close to 15.5" now. I thought I wanted to get to 19", but that would be a metric ton of work and I'm not sure I want to be that big. Trainer's comment: "19 inch biceps are HUGE. Are you sure?"

Food

I'm doing one of the filet mignons I picked up tonight. I'm going to use a skillet as I don't feel like getting out the grill for just me for a 6-8 minute cook time. I told my mom that, in honor of her birthday, I was making myself a filet tonight. I pointed out something to her that she had to pass on to dad: While filet mignon may be $15-20/pound, a good 6oz filet can be had for $7 from a good butcher. It's close to $7 to get a meal at McDonalds... Or, counting sides, my meal at home might be $10 total, vs more than $10 for Appleby's. And it's a good steak. :)

Keynote

Some neat things, none of which really interest me. I still want the new Mac Pro, though. I also wish the HD movie rentals worked with something other than Apple TV.

Yay!

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:34:53 GMT

Antiques Roadshow is in HD now!

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:21:50 GMT

Tomorrow is the big Apple keynote. I'd love to see a 3G 32GB iPhone.

I stopped by Surf and Turf finally. I picked up some grouper nuggets, some mini Chicken Cordon Bleu's (never seen those before), and two filet mignons for tomorrow.

Random notes

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:32:56 GMT

ZFS is now available for OS X. This is probably only useful for nerds like me. While it may not be officially supported by Apple yet, the release is from Apple employees.

The Colts won't be defending their Super Bowl title. I've gotten a lot less interested in sports lately, but it does make me a little sad.

I managed not to buy a Mac Pro. Even though I really want one. Until I can prove I'll actually be doing Mac-specific software development, I can't justify $2700 for a computer. Even if it is fast and neat.

Unless the iPhone SDK is complete junk, I'll be buying an iPhone. Have to wait until Tuesday... sigh.

Not only will the PSP have Skype support (and various review sites have actually used it), Sony is coming out with a keyboard for the PSP. In 2009. Not funny, Sony. If the PSP had a keyboard and Skype last year, I'd probably have that instead of getting an iPhone.

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:56:18 GMT

Was the latest Harry Potter movie worth seeing? It's on HD pay-per-view and I was thinking about watching it if it rains.

It's pretty bad

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:40:02 GMT

when you think your toothpaste is too sweet. I need to remember to stick with plain paste.

Note to self

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:56:11 GMT

Doing step class means going to bed early and waking up stupid early.

Brutal

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 17:31:08 GMT

Erf.

I worked out with my trainer from 9:30 to 10:30, doing chest and biceps. I got to experience a new biceps workout. It definitely works, but it's evil.

Then... we did the step class. Or, I did the first 20 minutes of the step class and she did all of it. I did 10 min on a stationary bike after the 20 min of step to cool down. It was fun, though and I'd like to do it again. It will take me quite a few sessions, I'm guessing, to be able to do the whole hour.

I went to look at Scandinavian furniture as well. Unfortunately, nothing really struck me. I did clear out the living room before I worked out, so all that's in it now is my Danish modern recliner and my antique rocker. It gives me a better idea of the space.

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 23:36:25 GMT

Must. Not. Buy. New. Mac. Pro.

Apparently...

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 01:18:53 GMT

I'm doing a step aerobic class on Saturday. After working out for an hour with my trainer. It will certainly be interesting. My trainer will be doing it with me. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

I wish this headache would go away

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:00:41 GMT

It's been hurting off/on all day. I think it will be an early night tonight.

I also wish I had a faster computer. Maybe Apple will announce a headless Mac between the Mac mini and the Mac Pro. I love my Powerbook, but the G4 is a little slow for some things. It would be nice if I could run OS X on the P4 I have sitting around. Ah well.

NetNewsWire

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 22:45:49 GMT

If you're a Mac person, NetNewsWire is now free. NNW is a nice RSS aggregator and a handy way to keep up with all the websites you read throughout the day without having to hit the sites themselves.

Knives?

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 22:31:14 GMT

No knives yet. Sigh.

Work was a little rough today. A coworker and I spent the entire day pulling our hair out. It turned out that the data we were getting didn't fit the rules we'd all agreed to. Ah well. At least it works now.

I wonder how long it would take to bike to work...

I wish the Apple conference was sooner! I want to get either an iPod or an iPhone, but I'm going to wait for the conference before being spendy.

Nikon has two new cameras out. They're really sweet, but out of my price range for now. Ah well.

New cooking knives

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 23:14:38 GMT

I ordered my knives from Amazon today. I went with what America's Test Kitchen recommended: RH Forschner's Fibrox knives. I got the 8 piece set plus an 7" Santoku.

I can't wait until I get to use them!